African bass book interest?

[Fat Freddy]

I'd definitely be interested as well.

Plus 1

 

[kuuuks]

I have been thinking about putting together an African bass book. I spent many years playing in African bands and as a southern California surfer it was quite an undertaking to get a handle on it. I was very fortunate to have some good mentors and opportunities to play in African bands. I absolutely fell in love with the music and dug into it for many years. I'm well aware of the fact that there are many many different styles of African music and would be skimming the surface of about a half dozen of them.
I have come up with a few exercises that gave me a better handle on "feeling and swinging" the stuff in 3 or its relatives . Anyhow, I'm curious how much interest there would be in such a book. Thanks for looking!

I think it would be great cause there are a lot of people that want to learn African style music but have no clue where to get help from especially now that African music is becoming so popular...

 

[kuuuks]

Good to see some interest. To do what has been festering in my head for some years now would be a pretty large project (for me)as I've never done anything like it. It would take tons of time, effort and probably cash. I don't think of it as a money making adventure. The sole purpose would be to lend some insight to others that I came upon the hard way, time.
Brother Goose: if I choose to take it on I will absolutely look into making contact with your friend, thanks!
Frenchy Lefty: I'm keenly aware of the vastness of "African bass". I would and could never propose a Bible of such. That said, when I was studying and transcribing initially west African music, there was zero info to be found. So I had to figure things out on my own through trial and error. In doing so I found some ways to put my head around some stuff that is very challenging if you grew up in a California beach town! If you lived near Paris you were much closer to these cats than I and if you know of any publications about this please point them out, I'll order it today.
I do feel there are some common denominators running through some of the styles though. For example if you can get a grasp of feeling 4 in 3 or 3 in 2 for starters. That info will crossover from Bikutsi to Mbalax to Gnawa etc, albeit in different ways. The straight 4 stuff is easier to get a handle on rhythmically yet has its own characteristics that are beautiful. This isn't even discussing harmony which is very different let's say between Cameroon and Ethiopia for starters.
Wow, long winded here...anyhow the hope would be to give a "glimpse" into the field as I haven't yet seen it on paper.

Let me know if you need some help or have some questions etc....I can help where I can....thx

 

[pacojas]

my favorite African bassist Femi Elais

 

[Jhengsman]

As you mentioned it, there are many different styles of music and rythms throughout Africa. Between North African, West African, East African and South African styles themselves with hundred of variations I actually see no real common denominator. Depending on the regions those different music are not one bit connected besides that they are all made to make people dance. It would be similar to write a book about "European music" or "American music". When living in France I played with some West African musicians and got to play with a few North African bands too - A book about "African music" sounds just too generic and unspecific to be credible and not to be a cliche.

Well can it be more generic than the many Latin books giving an introduction to Northern Mexican, Cuban and Brazilian styles among many others. What I would worry about is the publisher demanding "African" in the title to get more eyeballs, than a single area focus and then getting a book being relegated to the single style that the author knows and probably not the one I was looking for.

 

[Matthijs]

I'm also very interested and willing to contribute if nescessary.



Also: you should not forget the work the bass player of Orchestre Baobab: Charly N'Diaye. The way he africanised cuban bass tought me a lot about how to approach bass.

 

[Matthew Fisher]

Very interested.

 

[Joebone]

I'm here to tell you that Mixbass is unusually well-qualified to write this book! He's been playing and studying a wide range of African forms for decades. I have complete confidence that he would provide an excellent guide to various styles and forms.

I'd expect minimal overlap with existing Afro-Cuban instructional materials. There are some common elements, particularly comfort with 2 vs. 3 tensions, but many varieties of the African thing seem to encourage a degree of freedom for bassists that salsa bands can't offer.

I really hope Mixbass does this!

 

[raynman68]

Count me in as interested in this.

 

[uelliv]

It's true that the "African Bass Book" is a broad subject, but maybe you need to get more specific.
Perhaps if you devote certain sections of the book to "Highlife", "Congolese/Soukous", etc., or get regional, or country specific. The continent is so big you would have to narrow your field of study. So far so good, dialogue is always great!

 

[MixBass]

Really stoked to see the interest so far! I'm thinking more and more it's something I have to do. Thanks to those offering help and suggestions, I will need it. Time to do some initial legwork and see appx what something like this costs.
A few more replies:
Diblo, one of the Godfathers of African guitar!! I got to see him years ago and was floored!
The King Sunny Ade band were amazing as well!
Fela and now Femi, yesss! Dig Zombie!
Thanks Joebone for the kind words!! I intended and will be looking for your advice on this.
I'm confident I can put the material together with exercises and of course audio. It's the other side I know zero about.
Keep the suggestions coming!

 

[MixBass]

It's true that the "African Bass Book" is a broad subject, but maybe you need to get more specific.
Perhaps if you devote certain sections of the book to "Highlife", "Congolese/Soukous", etc., or get regional, or country specific. The continent is so big you would have to narrow your field of study. So far so good, dialogue is always great!

Indeed. I really liked Mokhtar Sambas' book and the way it was layed out. Some styles specific to some regions. Finding a title will be important: a peek/glimpse etc into...
A surfers guide into...
White mans guide...
I want it to be fun and not too pretentious yet a valuable tool.

 

[basslayer]

I have been thinking about putting together an African bass book. I spent many years playing in African bands and as a southern California surfer it was quite an undertaking to get a handle on it. I was very fortunate to have some good mentors and opportunities to play in African bands. I absolutely fell in love with the music and dug into it for many years. I'm well aware of the fact that there are many many different styles of African music and would be skimming the surface of about a half dozen of them.
I have come up with a few exercises that gave me a better handle on "feeling and swinging" the stuff in 3 or its relatives . Anyhow, I'm curious how much interest there would be in such a book. Thanks for looking!

Definite interest.

 

[Fat Freddy]

Indeed. I really liked Mokhtar Sambas' book and the way it was layed out. Some styles specific to some regions. Finding a title will be important: a peek/glimpse etc into...
A surfers guide into...
White mans guide...
I want it to be fun and not too pretentious yet a valuable tool.

Indeed. I really liked Mokhtar Sambas' book and the way it was layed out. Some styles specific to some regions. Finding a title will be important: a peek/glimpse etc into...
A surfers guide into...
White mans guide...
I want it to be fun and not too pretentious yet a valuable tool.

Would avoid 'White man's guide'.....Imagine that people of ALL colors would be reading if they're into African bass

 

[MixBass]

Would avoid 'White man's guide'.....Imagine that people of ALL colors would be reading if they're into African bass

Thanks and agreed!!

 

[jazzycats]

Super interesting!!

 

[fishdreams]

Id agree with those that it is a great idea in principle but also a huge field. For example I'd for example include chimurenga, and what about the Nigerian fuzz funk from the early 70ties. It should be an encyclopedia.

If it were a common not for profit project (for example a website where people can contribute lessons exercises and transcriptions, to be made available for free Wwiki style) I'd be into it, and happy to contribute. If it be just another 48 page bass book offered for sale with a handful exercises making bs claims about "learn to play Afican music" I'd not only not be interested, I'd also be hesitant about exploiting music that essentially is the people's common property being appropriated for profit, certainly by outsiders.

 

[ThePresident777]

I've heard African music, of course, but I don't know anything about this subject. So I googled African Bass and found African Bass Bible. Googled Afro-Cuban bass and found a few books too.

So, without even knowing these products, I have to ask, what's the difference?

I see people posting a lot of music, much of it modern. I suspect a problem: African music is extremely old, presenting it in a modern context could obscure the essence because modern musical instruments have a very different dynamic, tonal, and pitch range than the instruments that were used to create traditional African music, which could obscure the traditional dynamics, tones, pitches, and functions. My suggestion would be to provide the proper traditional context by explaining, and above all, demonstrating the function of each traditional instrument, the structure and purpose of the songs, then showing how a modern instrument like the bass can fit into a traditional African band, of whatever style you're demonstrating. Otherwise, people are going to carry their blues, rock, and jazz references into the lesson and possibly miss the point. An added advantage is that this approach leaves room for modern muscians to interpret the traditional music once they understand it, and you can demonstrate modern interpretations too. Which is what is essentially happening when you're translating an ancient music style(s) onto modern instruments anyway. Isn't that how modern African Music works? Isn't it built on top of the traditional music? That's my opinion mahhnnn.

 

[JimK]

...the book mentioned earlier (that I bought) is West African Rhythms For Drumset.
Back in the day, I copped some nice stuff outta this book.

 

[pnchad]

cool thread - thanks all for new inspiration!